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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by ropatrick@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

What is up with the amount of trackers in Ironfox? Way more than any other apps.

Surely this is not in keeping with their whole privacy vibe?

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[-] treasure@feddit.org 59 points 3 days ago

To me it just seems like the websites you opened in Ironfox were calling the trackers. The only things I'd see Ironfox using is Firebase Crashlytics and maybe Mozilla sites for add-on updates etc.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago

Yep I think you have nailed it.

[-] voxel@feddit.org 8 points 3 days ago

As far as I remember, TrackerControl actually says that if it recognizes the app as a browser, the listed network connections are most likely from websites you visit.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Tell me about it. I'm demented trying to stay ahead of things. Funny enough I never feel like the cat in this game!

[-] irotsoma@piefed.blahaj.zone 15 points 3 days ago

Is this without having ever visited any websites in that time period and with no plugins installed? Otherwise, it's likely much of that is the websites rather than the app. For example, YouTube doesn't make much sense for a browser itself to contact.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

OK I get you. So what I see there will change over time depending on my browsing activity. Tracker Control is just picking them up because they originate in the browser? That makes sense.

To answer your question, no it's not a fresh view.

I'm glad theres a logical answer!

[-] starblursd@lemmy.zip 10 points 3 days ago

What app is that you're using to monitor trackers?

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago
[-] StumblingWasabi@lemmy.today 13 points 3 days ago

Pretty sure they explicitly say that the app is not intended for use with browsers

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It does have a warning but it doesn't explicitly say that any entries you see are from browsing. To me its a bit confusing that they say that, yet they display trackers for browsers the exact same way as they do for all apps. The display looks no different to any app that TC is monitoring.

It would possibly make sense to just display the warning and leave it at that, without displaying any trackers generated from browsing. The way TC works, people associate the list of trackers with the app they have clicked on. Even with the warning, the list of trackers will draw users towards that, as opposed to the warning. Its like a conditioning thing; click app, see trackers, click app, see trackers, click app, see trackers, click Ironfox, see a warning that it doesn't support browsers, but still see trackers...

Anyway, I had always wondered why there was a list of trackers even with the warning. Now I know. Thanks to y'all for the assist.

Edit: Also, as I discovered in another thread I started yesterday, even though it says browsers are not supported, it does block trackers. I had been unable to access the Mozilla add-on page for ages. Turns out that it was being blocked by TC and when I unblocked it, everything was fine.

[-] _Nemo_@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

It does say that, and yet I've been doing it for years without issue. You just need to know what you're doing, i.e. you need to be able to tell apart the connections that are required to make a site work from those that aren't needed and can be blocked without issue. If you don't, Tracker Control will break a lot of sites, and they probably don't want to deal with the resulting support requests.

But if you've been using NoScript for a while, you will feel right at home with TC and be able to use it with browsers as well, which is where a lot of tracking happens.

[-] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago

Use tracker blocking lists if they have them.

[-] solrize@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago

Tracker blocking is an endless cat and mouse game, so where is the surprise? Also, if that's a firewall log, does normal browsing count as contacting companies?

[-] AxisExperience9@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

This is interesting. Maybe there's an explanation for it. Leaving this comment to track this

[-] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 3 points 3 days ago

It appears to be either extensions or visited pages being counted towards app tracking.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

For sure. Interested to learn more about it myself. It doesn't add up!

[-] AxisExperience9@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

What is the name of this app?

It's awfully ambiguous with the data it provides. I feel like if you were given more info it wouldn't have been so scary, but instead it's just labeled "14 companies" with no extra information.

Are you able to tap on it to get more data?

[-] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 days ago

What doesn't add up? I don't understand what you are objecting to here.

Web sites have trackers. You showed a screenshot of a browser plugin (? apparently) blocking a bunch of them for you.

What specifically do you think doesn't add up?

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

It has been explained in a couple of other responses, but, I was concerned that there were so many trackers associated with Ironfox in the Tracker Control app, however it seems that Tracker Control handles browsers differently and the entries are generated from browsing activity as opposed to being baked into the app itself.

[-] BottleBoardBakon@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago

You should also know that cookies and browsing history are not wiped between sessions unless you explicitly click the "quit IronFox" button.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Thanks, yeah I knew that. I'd love if there was a setting to nuke them on closing the app as opposed to having to quit!

this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
43 points (90.6% liked)

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